Jeffrey Gogo
MANY people will find it hard to forget the nutritious treat, mutakura (samp), particularly if your background is rural, and or a combination of both rural and urban.It made for good pre-packed lunch in my school days (and still does) for many children of school-going age, boys herding cattle, girls washing a mountain of laundry at the river, men and women working the land.
Preparing mutakura is not a nightmare. Two cups samp; half cup beans (or cowpeas or roundnuts); salt and water.
It tastes better with peanut butter, so add four tablespoons of the sticky spread. You start by soaking the samp and legume overnight; cook on medium heat until well cooked; add salt and peanut butter; mix thoroughly with wooden spoon until thick; simmer for five minutes; and then serve hot or cold with meat or vegetables.
That, of course, is not a recipe of my own (not that I have none). It belongs to Mrs Bertha Jambaya of Jekesa Pfungwa Vuliqondo, a community-based organisation that promotes the farming and consumption of organic and traditional foods.
There are numerous acceptable variations to Mrs Jambaya’s recipe. But the challenge is these kinds of foods are now missing from the diets of millions of Zimbabweans, as most turn to processed foods, and sometimes, genetically modified foods.
This change is dangerous. It is bad for farming, the environment and risky to human health.
Rising cases of diseases like diabetes and some cancers, experts say, are linked to the consumption of processed foods, particularly in urban areas where people “farm in supermarkets”.
Climate change demands that farmers are resilient. However, the industrialisation of Zimbabwe’s agriculture is hurting soil fertility through an increased unsustainable use of chemical fertilisers, synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
Food production has declined, as a result. That is in addition to other influencing factors such as frequent and extreme droughts as well historical structural challenges in the food production chain, including poor funding and expertise.
That addiction to modern, conventional farming methods will reduce farmers’ capacity to cope with or adapt to climate change, says Mr John Wilson, a Harare food and agriculture expert.
Agriculture should turn organic (natural), he argues, as that will stabilise ecosystems, deliver greater dietary and nutritional options to families and boost food security.
“Organic farming puts soil at the centre of farming,” Mr Wilson said via email on Thursday.
“It recognises that damaging your soil is a huge cost and that soil is a key part of a farmer’s capital. Soil high in organic matter can withstand droughts/dry spells and don’t become as easily waterlogged when there is a lot of rain.
“These soils also have more nutrients for plants because they are full of living organisms, which feed plants with minerals in a plant-ready form in return for ‘sugars’ given off by plant roots.”
Drought resistance and tolerance – such as that offered by traditional grains finger millet or sorghum – is crucial to fending off climate risks. Maize, Zimbabwe’s staple, cannot provide this resistance.
Interestingly, maize wasn’t even the country’s staple until the 19th century when it was introduced by settler farmers, gaining widespread popularity later in the 1900s.
Indigenous people depended on grains like sorghum.
They were strong and healthy. Organic farming offers to farmers agricultural biodiversity at a time of unpredictable climates.
“This means growing a wide variety of different foods and within one species having a number of varieties. With this kind of diversity certain varieties will thrive whatever the season,” says Mr Wilson.
In recent years, senior Government officials have had sleepless nights over food security due to declining agriculture output.
Over two million people were expected to go hungry during the first three months of this year, according to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee report.
Food insecurity prevalence ranges from between three percent to 39 percent across the country with the highest proportion being the dry district of Kariba at 38,7 percent.
Mangwe and Binga are second and third on the list with 30 percent and 29 percent respectively.
The lowest prevalence is in Makonde and Mazowe districts at 3,3 percent and 3,5 percent in that order.
The report showed that the diet for more than 80 percent of households is poor, eating mainly energy giving foods such as maize, oil and sugar.
Only 40 percent of rural households consume meat and legumes. This is due to “the continued production of maize in low rainfall areas and reliance on inorganic farming methodologies and shunning of indigenous, traditional foods,” says Ms Delilah Takawira, nutrition officer at the local office of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. But that can be sorted out fairly fast.
“If small grains – that are indigenous to Zimbabwe – are grown in all the low rainfall areas, this would greatly improve the food security situation in these areas and significantly contribute to the national food security,” she said.
“Zimbabwe is also endowed with a wide variety of indigenous fruits, vegetables and wildlife that can offer variety and diversity to the diet.”
Organic food festival
Now, Wilson’s FoodMatters Zimbabwe in partnership with several other non-governmental organisations; the ministries of agriculture, and those of health; industry; and gender are seeking to revive the production and consumption of natural and traditional foods.
The platform for the revival is at the second Zimbabwe Traditional and Organic Food Festival to be held at the Botanic Gardens in Harare on September 27 and 28 this year.
The first was held at the same venue last year.
The festival is an important addition to the country’s climate change-food security-nutrition nexus.
It aims “to encourage producers and consumers . . . towards food systems that produce, process and market healthy and nutritious foods in a sustainable way,” festival organiser, Ms Caroline Jacquet said by email last week.
She said it was time to bring “a powerful force into play” through creating linkages between “consumers and producers who want sustainably produced, wholesome food.”
Current eating habits in Zimbabwe that thrive on “junk food” were causing illnesses and malnutrition, already killing 25 percent of children under 5 years, and causing 28 percent of women and 14 percent of men to be anaemic.
Nearly 40 exhibitors including small-scale organic farmers, food businesses, Government ministries and NGOs will display a variety of food and drink, both for buying and for tasting.
There will also be cooking and other food processing demonstrations.
FAO’s Ms Takawira, who will be exhibiting, said the “festival offers a unique opportunity to reach out to the wider population in Zimbabwe to promote good nutrition and healthy diversified diets by encouraging the use of indigenous foods and sustainable food systems”.
Institutions like Environment Africa will bring to the organic food festival expertise in managing food waste.
“We believe that we can complete the cycle by promoting good food waste management and generation of less food waste,” said Environment Africa’s Ms Teresa Mungazi.
“One area that we have a wide knowledge base in is composting using food waste, which is nature’s way of recycling. We would like to share our experience and find ways of continuing to contribute to this initiative.”
Traditional and organic foods are often cheaper to grow, using locally available and sustainable resources. The traditional foods suit the country’s climate and are more often than not drought resistant.
“It is important to us to preserve and honour our culture and our history – and our food is one important way to do this,” according to Ms Marianne Knuth of Kufunda, a learning village on the outskirts of Harare, which among other things, processes organic foods including millet bread and sweet potato jam.
In future, organisers are planning to hold similar festivals countrywide.
God is faithful.
jeffgogo@gmail.com